Verzasca set to diversify into rental developments

Verzasca Group LLC has been a condo developer since its startup in August 2014, but now the Bay Harbor Islands-based company is preparing to enter the rental apartment market.

Tim Lobanov, the company’s managing director, told the Daily Business Review that Verzasca is looking for sites exceeding two acres in size for development of a rental apartment building with more than 200 units.

“It’s not like we’re seeing a slight slowdown in condo development and jumping ship,” Lobanov told the Review. “We still think that condo development in South Florida is a great business.” But “we thought it would be the right time for us to diversify our business and start looking for rental opportunities.”

In the last six months, Verzasca has been looking at possible rental development sites in Miami-Dade County and Broward County.

“Fort Lauderdale is hot. It’s been hot on the condo side, but let me tell you, it’s hot on the rental side as well,” Lobanov told the Review. “Fort Lauderdale is a city that is going through major redevelopment; it’s sort of in a boom stage. For us, it’s a good place to start.”

Lobanov also told the Review that Verzasca also has looked at sites in Miami’s Upper East Side, Coral Gables and North Miami Beach: “Everything from Miami’s Midtown toward North Miami Beach has a lot of potential.”

“The demand for rentals is really high,” especially among young South Floridians, Lobanov told the newspaper. “Millennials, they prefer to rent rather than buy, and this trend is going to continue across the nation and more so in South Florida.”

He said Verzasca has three condo developments under way: a 15-unit project called Pearl House and a 30-unit project called Le Jardin, both under construction in Bay Harbor Islands, and Aurora, a 61-unit project in Sunny Isles Beach.

“We plan to finish Pearl House and Le Jardin during first quarter of next year, when we plan to break ground on Aurora,” he told the Review.  [Daily Business Review] — Mike Seemuth